Hanover
) |image_flag = Flag of Hanover 1837-1866.png |alt_flag = |image_flag2 = |alt_flag2 = |image_coat = Royal Arms of the Kingdom of Hanover.png |alt_coat = |symbol_type = Coat of arms |national_motto = Suscipere et Finire "Support and Finish" |national_anthem = Heil dir, Hannover! "Hail to thee, Hanover!" |royal_anthem = |other_symbol_type = |other_symbol = |image_map = Hannover innerhalb der britischen Besatzungszone 1946.png |alt_map = |map_caption = Map of Hanover (within the British occupation zone, post-WWII) |image_map2 = |alt_map2 = |map_caption2 = |capital = Hanover |latd= | latm= | latNS= |longd= |longm= |longEW= |largest_city = capital |official_languages = |demonym = Hanoverian |regional_languages = |ethnic_groups = 97% White 3% other |ethnic_groups_year = 2015 |government_type = |leader_title1 = King of Hanover |leader_name1 = Ernest Augustus V |leader_title2 = State Minister |leader_name2 = Adolf Ludwig von Schele |leader_title3 = Vice State Minister |leader_name3 = Georg Beck |legislature = States-General |upper_house = |lower_house = |sovereignty_type = from |sovereignty_note = |established_event1 = |established_date1 = 12 October 1814 |established_event2 = |established_date2 = 14 June 1866 |established_event3 = |established_date3 = 23 May 1949 |area = |area_km2 = 38,705 |area_sq_mi = 14,944 |area_rank = 133rd |area_footnote = |percent_water = |population_estimate = 5,537,390 |population_estimate_rank = 113th |population_estimate_year = 2016 |population_census = |population_census_year = |population_density_km2 = |population_density_sq_mi = |population_density_rank = |GDP_PPP = |GDP_PPP_rank = |GDP_PPP_year = |GDP_PPP_per_capita = |GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = |GDP_nominal = $263.48 billion |GDP_nominal_rank = 44th |GDP_nominal_year = 2016 |GDP_nominal_per_capita = $47,583 |GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = 13th |HDI = 0.826 |HDI_ref = |HDI_rank = 16th |HDI_year = 2014 |currency = Vereinsthaler (V) |currency_code = HAN |time_zone = |utc_offset = +1 |time_zone_DST = CEST |utc_offset_DST = +2 |DST_note = |date_format = DD/MM/YYYY |drives_on = Right |cctld = .ha |iso3166code = |official_website = |calling_code = +500 |vehicle_reg = |aircraft_code = |patron_saint = }} Hanover ( : Hannover), officially the Kingdom of Hanover ( : Königreich Hannover), is a sovereign state located in . It borders the to the north, south, and east, the to the north, and the to the west. As a , it is comprised of six '' Landdrosteien'' (high-bailiwicks; provinces) and the of Hanover. The state originated in 1692, with the establishment of the after the by Emperor of the . The name of its capital, Hanover, became synonymous with the electorate but it continued to use its official name of Brunswick-Lüneburg. When its prince-elector became king of in 1714, the electorate gained the status of a with the United Kingdom. The Electorate of Hanover initially remained neutral during the , as with the rest of the Holy Roman Empire, but was occupied by Brandenburg-Prussia following the in 1795, up until 1801. Throughout the next several years of the the Hanover region changed hands between the Prussians and . In 1807 the established the , controlling much of Hanover, as a of France ruled by a relative of Napoleon, . It existed until 1813, providing troops to French campaigns, most notably . The Westphalian kingdom was occupied by forces and dissolved in 1813, and the the following year restored the rule of the House of Hanover. In 1814, the Congress of Vienna not only reestablished the electorate but upgraded it to an independent . The new state was also greatly expanded, becoming the fourth-largest member of the German Confederation (after , , and ). King of Great Britain was made the King of Hanover, putting the country in a personal union again until the coronation of Queen in 1837. The kingdom continued to exist until the of 1866. Hanover first attempted to remain neutral, rejecting Prussian offers of annexing the nearby and . However when it supported the mobilization of Confederation troops against Prussia, the country declared war on Hanover and annexed it. From 1866 it remained a of Prussia, although a was formed that lobbied for the region's independence under the and the , prior to being banned in 1933 by the . In 1946, after 's defeat in , a was established by the . Initially they planned on abolishing it an replacing it with a "Lower Saxony" region that would include Hanover as well as surrounding areas. Lobbying from local German politicians and members of the exiled House of Hanover convinced the authorities to restore the Kingdom of Hanover, as well as break up the rest of Germany into smaller states. However, in 1947–48, they decided to create a unified in the west, but the British supported Hanoverian independence, as they believed the Federal Republic would be primarily under American influence and sought to create Hanover as a British sphere. The Allied Control Council accepted the proposal and was crowned as King Ernest Augustus IV of Hanover, on 23 May 1949, making it independent of West Germany. The new kingdom was part of during the , remaining largely stable throughout the rest of the 20th century. During the of 1990, the Hanoverian government refused suggestions from West German politicians of unifying into one state, preferring to maintain their independence. Today, Hanover has a highly developed economy, which is primarily based on agriculture and mining. , , , and s are among the state's present-day arable crops. Towards the south and southeast, extensive layers in the soil left behind by the last ice age allow high-yield crop farming. One of the principal crops there is . The soil in some parts of Hanover are made up of coarse sandy soil that makes crop farming difficult and therefore grassland and cattle farming are more prevalent in those areas. became a foundation of notable economic prosperity in the as early as the 12th century, while iron mining in the area and salt mining in various areas of the state became another important economic backbone. Although overall yields are comparatively low, Lower Saxony is also an important supplier of crude oil in Europe. Mineral products still mined today include iron and lignite. Manufacturing is another large part of the economy. The car maker with its five production plants within the state's borders still remains the single biggest private-sector employer, and other sectors include aviation and biotechnology. Patagonia is an active participant of several international organizations, the , the , the , and the . Furthermore, Hanover is a strong ally of the . Etymology The name Hanover (spelled Hannover in German), literally means "on the high ridge," from hoch "high" + over, cognate with ofer "flat-topped ridge." The modern royal family of Great Britain is descended from Electoress , grand-daughter of , whose heirs received the British crown in 1701 (nearer heirs being set aside as Roman Catholics). The first was George I. They were joint rulers of Britain and Hanover until the accession of Victoria (1837) who was excluded from Hannover by . Hanover in English also was a euphemism for "Hell." History Brunswick-Lüneburg The earliest formed Hanoverian state was the , which, from 1235 was ruled by various members of the family who ruled several small territories in northwest Germany. These holdings did not have all of the formal characteristics of a state, being neither compact nor indivisible. When several sons of a Duke competed for power, the lands were often divided between them; when a branch of the family lost power or became extinct, the lands were reallocated among surviving members of the family; different dukes might also exchange territories. The territories were named after notable towns where the dukes had (or had had at one time) their residences, e.g. , , , , . The unifying element of all these territories was that they were ruled by male-line descendants of , nephew of the . The line that would lead to the House of Hanover was that of Bernard, one of the three sons of Duke who had jointly ruled a united Duchy of Brunswick since 1388, but who partitioned the territory in 1428 and 1432. Bernard received the territory of , whose principal town was . From 1527 until 1642 the Principality of Harburg, seated in , was partitioned from Lüneburg. In 1569, Lüneburg was divided between (line of Dannenberg) and (line of Lüneburg), the sons of , Bernard's great-great-grandson. A distant cousin of the line of Lüneburg, , who ruled the territories of Wolfenbüttel and Calenberg, died in 1634. After some dispute, his territories were divided in 1635 between the Dannenberg and Celle branches of the Lüneburg line. Henry III's son became Duke of and his descendants eventually ruled the Duchy of Brunswick. William's first four sons ruled Lüneburg in sequence from their father's death in 1592 to 1648. The fifth son, received the territories of Calenberg and Göttingen in 1635. In 1636 he moved the seat of the Dukes of Calenberg from to the town of Hanover in the Calenberg territory. This was the nucleus of the state of Hanover, though the territory would have to wait until 1814 before receiving "Hanover" as its official name. In 1648, the Duke of Calenberg inherited Lüneburg from his uncle Frederick, the last survivor of William's five sons. From 1648 to 1705, Lüneburg (the larger territory) was held by the senior of the Lüneburg line, and Calenberg by the next junior. In 1692, the promised to raise the Duke of Calenberg, to the rank of . This promotion did not become effective until it was recognized by the in 1708, ten years after Ernest Augustus' death. In the meantime, his son, , inherited Lüneburg from his uncle in 1705, doubling Hanover's size. Electorate of Hanover In 1692, the Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold I, elevated George's son, Duke to the rank of of the Empire as a reward for aid given in the . There were protests against the addition of a new Elector, and the elevation did not become official (with the approval of the Imperial Diet) until 1708, in the person of Ernest Augustus' son, George Louis. Though the Elector's titles were properly Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he is commonly referred to as the Elector of Hanover after his residence. The Electorate was legally bound to be indivisible: it could add to its territory, but not alienate territory or be split up among several heirs; and its succession was to follow male primogeniture. The territory assigned to the Electorate included the Brunswick-Lüneburg principalities of Calenberg, Grubenhagen, and Lüneburg (even though at the time Lüneburg was ruled by Ernest Augustus' older brother) and the counties of and . George Louis became king of in 1714 (see House of Hanover). The influence of the electors in Germany grew also: they inherited the formerly territories of and in 1719. As part of the of 1803, the Electorate received the . The Electorate became a battleground during the following the French . In the it was agreed that Hanover should be with large parts of the Electorate occupied by French forces. subsequently revoked the Convention, and the re-formed counter-attacked and drove the French from the Electorate. Subsequent French attacks were repulsed. In 1803, the Electorate of Hanover was occupied by France after the . From 1807 to 1813, the Hanoverian territory was part of the . However, the government of George III did not recognize the French annexation (being at war continuously with France through the entire period) and Hanoverian ministers continued to operate from London. The Hanoverian government maintained its own separate diplomatic service, which maintained links to countries such as and , with whom the United Kingdom itself was technically at war. The Hanoverian army was dissolved, but many of the officers and soldiers went to England, where they formed the . The KGL was the only German army to fight continually during the whole Napoleonic wars against the French. They played an important part in the in 1815. Although the was dissolved in 1806, George III's government did not consider the dissolution to be final, and he continued to be styled "Elector of Hanover" down to 1814. Kingdom of Hanover Province of Hanover Interwar era and WWII Regaining independence Modern times Government and politics Hanover is a , with its six high-bailiwicks being led by a governor and one federal city by a mayor, which form a confederation around the King of Hanover. The monarch maintains considerable power, being able to issue edicts or veto legislation (although the parliament has the power to override edicts and vetoes). The highest executive body is the Council of Ministers, the members of which are appointed by the King with approval from the parliament and can serve ten year terms. They can only be removed by the King or with a two-thirds majority vote from the legislature. Ministers can be part of political parties but are typically independent. The Council is led by the Minister of State, who is the . According to the 1949 Constitution of Hanover, which was based off of the original one from 1819, the King is obliged to established a States-General of the Reich. The States-General is a parliament. The upper house is the Royal Council, representing the nobility and the clergy, consisting of 30 unelected members of prominent noble families and religious officials. The lower house, the Assembly, represents the normal citizenry and consisted of 150 members elected by . The Assembly can propose and vote on legislation, while the Royal Council can vote on the legislation and send it back to the Assembly if it does not pass. The King maintains considerable control over the parliament as he is able to veto legislation, but the States-General can override this. In certain cases he is permitted to ignore the override, but in practice the King rarely does so. Monarchy .]] Political parties Foreign relations The kingdom has a strong economy and capable military, as well as a high per-capita income, for which it has considerable influence in European politics. As a result, Hanover is often classified a on the international stage. It maintains diplomatic relations with more than 170 countries throughout the world. The country's closest ally has been the United Kingdom, since it was largely due to British efforts that Hanover gained its independence in 1949, and the two states have had close relations since then. Military The Kingdom of Hanover maintains a military, consisting of the Army (Armee), Navy (Marine), and Air Force (Luftstreitkräfte), along with a Home Guard (Landwehr), which total some 34,700 personnel as of January 2017. The armed forces were founded in 1955 when Hanover and West Germany were militarized in order to assist other countries in deterring the Soviet Union and the . It reached a peak strength of of around 58,000 personnel by the mid 1970s and since the fall of communism the Hanoverian military has been downgraded to a more defensive role. Although mandatory military service for males aged 18—27 was in effect during the Cold War, conscription was abolished in 1996 and now the military is fully professional. Administrative divisions Following World War II, Hanover gained several lands it did not have but also lost some that it possessed before the Prussian annexation in 1866. Traditionally, the first kingdom was divided into s of the former Holy Roman Empire and later into high-bailiwicks ( : Landdrosteien, singular: Landdrostei), named after their regional administrative centers. Under the Prussians, the Province of Hanover was divided int several s, which themselves were subdivided into districts. The country is currently organized into six high-bailiwicks (provinces), roughly based on the original ones and also named after their regional capitals (with the one exception of Hanover high bailiwick, whose capital is Neinburg). There is also the addition of the of Hanover, the national capital. Economy Demographics Ethnic groups Religion Language The official state language is , with the most common dialects being those of the (Westniederdeutsch) group, also traditionally called Low Saxon (Niedersächsisch). Besides Hanover, they are also spoken throughout southern and the northwestern parts of Germany. The most widely spoken dialect is (Ostfälisch), common throughout most of Hanover, with another major one being (Westfäölsk), in to the southwest of the kingdom. In modern times the majority of people speak standard German with a Westphalian accent, while mainly older people actually speak the dialect. This is partly due to an effort by the German state to wipe out these dialects during the 18th century, as Low German dialects are considered to distant from standard German to be considered dialects. Since then the Hanoverian Ministry of Culture has taken steps to revive the dialects and has hosted multiple events that promote use of them. Largest cities Culture See also |Northeast = |East = |Southeast = |South = |Southwest = |West = |Northwest = }} Category:Hanover Category:Countries